Death toll rises to 12 after Nizhnekamsk rubber plant explosion

Nizhnekamsk, Tatarstan – The death toll from the explosion at a synthetic rubber production unit at Sibur’s Nizhnekamskneftekhim plant has risen to 12, according to company disclosures.

In a 7 April update, Sibur said the search operation had been completed at the site, with 25 people hospitalised.

The incident took place 31 March during cleanup efforts following a depressurisation of equipment at Nizhnekamskneftekhim's synthetic rubber production facility.

Of those killed, the majority were employees linked to synthetic rubber production, including operators, engineers and maintenance staff working across degassing, polymerisation and rubber preparation units.

Two of the victims were employees of contractor Tatspetsneftekhimremstroy, while one was a firefighter involved in the emergency response.

The fatalities include personnel directly involved in the production of SKD-N synthetic rubber as well as instrumentation and maintenance specialists supporting plant operations.

Sibur has not issued further details on the cause of the incident beyond its earlier statement that “a gas mixture ignited from an as-yet-undetermined source” following equipment depressurisation.

The company previously said the incident led to a shutdown at one technological unit, with the majority of site capacity continuing to operate. (ERJ report)

Investigations involving regulatory authorities and company representatives are ongoing.